Scars
by GardenianWillowah
Summary: What happens when you have to protect a person who is being hunted down by one of the most powerful armies on the planet, when you can't even defend yourself?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

**I do not own Avatar the Last air bender; I did not make the characters, settings, or any other thing that pisses people off.**

**These are my own ideas and I would respect it if no one flames it too harshly, though I will NOT attack you for not liking it. But if you don't like it, please tell me why, so I can improve, or point me in the direction of someone who can help me with this… Please and thank you.**

**Thanks to anyone willing to read this, on a side note, I took a litmus test for this and she didn't come out sue-ish, but if she did, SORRY.**

Mei looked into the sunrise already beads of sweat were working their way down her forehead. Her hazel colored eyes glittered as a tear went down her cheek, the unusual melancholy of the day startled her but she refused to show it to the awakening soil. The gritty earth around her stuck to the soles of her feet as she moved amongst the vegetables pulling weeds from taking the sunlight from her crop. Her thin, cracked lips hid the yellow teeth, which she was gritting with the effort.

Blood trickled down his pale, scarred skin falling in puddles on the sand. His legs were weary and he could barely breathe, more scars had appeared on him, caused by fire. His breath was becoming more labored by the second and his sight was leaving him. He was drifting in and out of passing out and staying awake; trying to flee from his sister.

Zuko's chest throbbed uncomfortably, while his arms ached fiercely. _Was he going to die? _He thought to himself. "No… not… this way…" he managed to utter as he fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Mei searched into the setting sun; her skin was red from the long hours of work and toil. Her arms ached something fierce and her chest hurt for some unknown reason. She hurriedly grabbed the bucket from behind a large tree and made her way to the well where she got her water from. As she approached through the grassy clearing and unto the rocky soil of a path her eyes seemed to follow a trail of blood along the path.

It was unknown why she walked on instead of running to her house or stop to think about what she was getting herself into, maybe it was the heat of the sun, maybe because she was tired. But regardless of the reason, and the strong feeling in her gut she continued on towards the well.

A corpse of a young man was on the ground. His black hair was shaved off and scars were all over the visible parts of his body. His skin was pale and he looked nothing like the people she had seen before. _Is he… Is he dead? _Mei thought, her mind racing…

She pushed a rough hand through her hair and blushed, _what am I doing just standing here, this man needs help… _she thought, now noticing the puddle of blood growing around him. She reached for him and knelt down; her hand touched his neck looking for some sign of life at all. "You're… alive… What the hell kind of person are you, to survive a beating like?" Mei said to herself aloud, for she had grown accustomed to talking to herself over the years.

After a grueling time of dragging him to the small shack on the far outskirts of her village she managed to get him onto the straw mattress she had used as a bed for all the years she had lived there. What was she to do now?


	2. Chapter 2

**-2**

**Chapter Two**

**I don't really know how this works that much! ;D**

**Anyways, I don't own Avatar: the Last Air Bender**

Mei looked at the boy, somewhat intrigued that he had survived the beating he had taken. The burns on his body were beginning to ooze pus and the openings in the flesh were bleeding tremendously. It was a miracle she had even been able to stop the bleeding with a nearby herb. She let out a sigh as the thought crossed her mind that he might have a fever. A cloth was on his forehead but it didn't seem to be doing him any good at all. Her hands trembled, but she didn't know why. "What… Would I do…? If you were to die..?" she muttered to herself as she grabbed a handful of dark cloth; her badly stitched dress.

For some reason she felt more self conscious than usual, her clothes were all dirty and patched up, and all black or a dull brown. The palms of her hands were leathery and always covered in soil, her hair greasy and limp. In the view of this newcomer, though he was unconscious for the time being, she felt more like a hick than she had ever felt before. Of course, she should have felt that way, behind all the scars and burns the young man was obviously royalty.

A tear ran down her sun burned face, _why was she crying over someone who was doomed to die so young? Everyone dies, it's not like he'll live with these wounds. He'll die before he even sees your ugly face. _Mei thought to stop herself from crying. Of course, she wasn't going to listen to that, she may be ugly, but she was not going to let him die. Regardless of how disgusted he would be of her "ugly mug".

She smiled thinking of how happy she would be to see him go on his way, fully healed. But this led to other thoughts, ones that troubled her lot. _Why had he been in such a shape? It couldn't have been wild animals or bandits. Maybe someone was looking for him? _She shook these thoughts out of her head for the moment. Whatever doubtful thoughts she had, they would have to wait for the time being.

She decided to work on the house for the day, seeing as how she would need to look after him constantly. Mei would need all of her strength so she could change bandages and reapply herbs and all that jazz. Still it was unsettling the way he looked so beat up… What could have possibly happened to him?

It was later in the evening and he still hadn't woken up. All the daily chores were done besides getting fresh water and she was afraid if she left he would try to leave and reopen the wounds she had tried (desperately) to stitch up. Every time she got to the road she would rush back in to see if he was okay and decided to ignore the feeling of anxiety and just get the water she needed for the day like any sensible person would. Of course, it would be harder, seeing as how she would have to be careful around strangers and animals and take care of herself and this wounded man.

A soup was broiling over a fire and she stared over at the young man. He hadn't moved for awhile though she had checked over and over again to see if he was actually alive. Mei looked every five minutes to see if his pulse had stopped or if his breath was no longer coming out. Her worries didn't stop there. How was she to feed him? Mei hadn't been through anything like this before, but she hadn't ever seen another person's body before. Imagine her embarrassment having to put bandages on him. The second time was even worse. She felt perverted and blushed whenever she thought about it

If he knew that she had seen him would he shun her? Would he refuse her help? Or even try to fight her to regain his honor. But at this point she was thinking about the crops and how they were fairing, not even noticing the haggard form lifting itself up to an upright position, if she had she would have been shocked and probably have said stupid things like, "I didn't mean to, please forgive me, how about I give you a carrot or some peas?! Please don't kill me!"

"Where… Am I?" the young man said with one of his hands holding the wet cloth to his forehead and looking around the room.

"Huh?" Mei said her focus was now on him again, "When did you wake up?"

"Oh no! You idiot! Don't you see!" he shouted.

"See what?" Mei said, startled and still somewhat dense.

"They're after me; they know where I was headed! Do you know what you've done?! You screwed yourself over! They'll kill you and then me!"

"Who?"

"The fire nation," the young man said exasperated, "They are after me, and they had me cornered, but I got away. They'll be looking for me and when they find that you have been helping me, they'll get rid of you too."

Mei contemplated this for a while before looking away, "I'm not going anywhere."

"Let me go on! They'll follow me, and leave you alone!" he said trying to reason with her.

"Neither are you, you are in no condition to move, let alone fight off an entire army of fire benders."

"The risk you're taking is a big one. What about the other people in this village, don't you care for their lives if not your own?"

"I don't care about them, and neither should you. They won't find you here, I promise! Stay here for awhile and heal, then you can leave," Mei said, "But not now, if you do now, you'll just reopen your wounds and die in the godforsaken forest."

"You're making a mistake."

"You have to risk your life, to live just a second in it."

**Well, I hope this was better than the first "chapter". I know Zuko probably doesn't fit the character in the series because… Well I haven't watched it in quite awhile, just to the point where there really aren't THAT many new characters. This most likely doesn't take place in any point in the series for those inexistent readers who are saying "what da funk?" over this.**

**I don't know if anything like this has happened in the series so far because I haven't been watching it at all… I just thought of posting my ideas up on here instead of letting them rot and die in a corner in my room. Just so you know, this isn't (supposed to be) a cheesy love story. Actually it isn't a love story at all, Mei doesn't LOVE, love him and he doesn't LOVE, love her.**

**That is why it is classified as "friendship". Meaning, that warm fuzzy feeling on every single page, with buddle clears and ruzzy fabbits. NOT A LOVE STORY. I'm not that desperate, seriously.**


End file.
